Overdrive

When Sunset Overdrive was first introduced, it didn’t leave much of an impression. It certainly looked fun and vibrant with a color scheme that came straight out of a 1990s Sears catalog. Oranges popped. Greens looked radioactive. The project gave the audience a vague sense of high-energy, high-octane entertainment.

But other than that, Insomniac Games didn’t offer much details. It wasn’t until E3 that players got a sense of gameplay and personality. It was intriguing, but if you asked me to explain it, I couldn’t tell you much aside from the impromptu weaponry and slick moves. But that all changed when I played through the first hour of Sunset Overdrive.

That provided the context for the action. Players take on role of a minimum-wage gamer, who is working at a festival promoting a new energy drink called Overcharge. Things seem normal when the apocalypse strikes. Apparently, Fizzco, the drink’s manufacturer, ignored warnings that libation turns people into bloodthirsty mutants, and while the gamer is on job, the concertgoers metamorphasize and the city instantly turns into a war zone.Continue Reading →